Fantastic Four 2

"And once the Fantastic Four are slain, no power on Earth can stop the Skrull invasion!"

―Skrull

"The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!"
Fantastic Four
Title:	"The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!"
Volume:	1
Number:	2
Cover price:	.12
Cover date:	January, 1962
Publisher:	Marvel Comics
Credits
Chief:	Stan Lee
Writers:	Stan Lee
Pencilers:	Jack Kirby
Inkers:	George Klein
Cover artists:	Jack Kirby
Cover inker:	George Klein
Cover colorist:	Stan Goldberg
Colorists:	Stan Goldberg
Letterers:	John Duffy
Editors:	Stan Lee
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"The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!" is the title to the main story from the second issue of the American superhero comic book series The Fantastic Four by Marvel Comics. The story was written by Stan Lee with pencils by Jack Kirby and inks by George Klein. The issue was colored by Stan Goldberg with John Duffy providing the lettering. The cover art illustration for this issue was composed by Jack Kirby, George Klein and Stan Goldberg. The story was edited by Stan Lee. This issue shipped with a January, 1962 cover date and carried a cover price of 12 cents per copy (US).

Synopsis

An alien race of shape-shifters known as the Skrulls come to Earth with the intent of conquering it. The first phase of their invasion begins in Central City, California and involves destabilizing the planet's premiere superhero team, the Fantastic Four. To facilitate this, they make themselves look like members of the group and commit various crimes to destroy the Fantastic Four's reputation. When the real Fantastic Four learn of this, they go into hiding and plot out a strategy to save their reputation. They encounter the Skrulls and team leader Reed Richards hypnotizes them, forcing them to shape-shift into ordinary Earth cows. The FF then pretend to be the Skrull agents in disguise and report back to the mother ship, warning the high commander that Earth is too dangerous to conquer and that they should leave. The Skrulls heed the warning and take off for outer space.

On their way back to Earth, the Fantastic Four pass through another wave of cosmic rays, which turns the Thing back into his original human form.

Appearances

Featured characters

• Fantastic Four

• Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards
• Invisible Girl, Susan Storm
• Human Torch, Johnny Storm
• The Thing, Ben Grimm

Supporting characters

• Central City Police chief

Villains

• Skrull captain
• Mister Fantastic Skrull
• Invisible Girl Skrull
• Human Torch Skrull
• The Thing Skrull

Minor characters

• Central City jewelry store employees
• Central City residents

Organizations

• Fantastic Four
• Central City Police Department
• United States Army

Races

• Humans
• Mutated humans
• Skrulls

Locations

• California

• Central City, California

• Texas

Items

• Cosmic rays
• Daily Bugle newspaper
• Daily Globe newspaper
• Fantasti-Flare

Vehicles

• Skrull space vessel
• Skrull mother ship

Powers

• Bio-conversion
• Elasticity
• Flight
• Invisibility
• Pyrokinesis
• Shape-shifting
• Superhuman strength

Notes & Trivia

• The story from this issue is divided into four chapters:

• Part 1: "The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!"
• Part 2: "Prisoner of the Skrulls"
• Part 3: "The Fantastic Four Fight Back!"
• Part 4: "The Fantastic Four... Captured!"

• Artie Simek provides the cover lettering for this issue.

• This issue includes a Fantastic Four pin-up page illustrated by Jack Kirby and George Klein.

• First appearance of the Skrulls. The Skrull race appear next in Fantastic Four #18. The Skrulls featured in this issue, forced to shape-shift into cows, appear again in Avengers #92. The ramifications of Reed leaving them in cow form results in a community that drinks Skrull milk as seen in Fantastic Four, Volume 1 Annual #17.

• This is the second appearance of the Fantasti-Flare.

• This issue was released the same month as Tales to Astonish #27, which introduced the character of Hank Pym. Although it will still be a few months before he dons the helmet and tights of Ant-Man, Pym is the first stand-alone hero of the modern-era Age of Heroes.

• The Skrull emperor responsible for sending the scouting party to Earth is later revealed to be Dorrek VII.

• The Invisible Girl Skrull will later assume the form of H. Warren Craddock of the Alien Activities Commission, and become a major player in the "Kree-Skrull War" in the early 1970s.

Recommended Reading

Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 Fantastic Four, Vol. 2 Fantastic Four, Vol. 3 Fantastic Four 2099 Fantastic Four Unlimited Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising

Fantastic Four Unplugged Fantastic Four: WGCM Ultimate Fantastic Four FF Fantastic Four Collections Fantastic Four One-Shots

See also

Fantastic Four Fantastic Four films Fantastic Four comics Fantastic Four programs Fantastic Four characters

Fantastic Four villains Fantastic Four images Fantastic Four creators Fantastic Four cast & crew Fantastic Four miscellaneous

External Links

• Fantastic Four #2 at MDP
• Fantastic Four #2 at Comics.org
• Fantastic Four #2 at Comic Vine
• Fantastic Four #2 at Amazon.com
• Fantastic Four #2 at the Marvel Universe
• Fantastic Four #2 at the Fantastic Four Wiki

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